 I am Esther Banfi, the president of the EAA and our secretary, Sally Foster is also present and she's also participating in greeting you and participating in any questions and answers that might occur later on. First of all, I would like to enlighten somehow the occasion why we have come together today. And the reason is that about a month ago or six weeks ago, concerns reached the executive board about the behavior of the Hungarian government and its possible effects on the 28th annual meeting of the EAA in Budapest. So on behalf of the communities of the LGBT plus people, we took these concerts very seriously and made several steps to amend this, to help this. And one of the most important steps is from the Hatir Society, which is the largest and most important civilian organization in Hungary for LGBTQ plus rights. Hi, Robert and hi, Biserka Gajdarska. Biserka was kind enough to take over the moderation today. She's co-chairing the EAA community for archeology and gender. Biserka, thank you very much. Robert, I thank you very much for attending. I think we probably have lost Esther again. We lost her again. We are so sorry for that, okay. Right, okay, maybe I would really very like her to kind of brief you where we were and how we got where we are at the moment. And this was our plan before we actually moved to Robert. So if you can bear with us for a minute and forgive us for these technical issues, and I will ask Esther to rejoin us again so she can make that presentation. If not, Sally, do you think you can step in if she can't rejoin us? No, I think I'm here, am I here? Yes, you are. Sorry, I wasn't expecting to do this. So everybody, yeah, forgive me. And apologies once more for the technical problems that Esther's having. So yeah, so this slide essentially summarizes the actions that the EAA Executive Board has taken since the concerns were raised that Esther just talked about. So we already have an EAA safe space policy, but we have updated that and taking into account some more local circumstances in Budapest and there's a link to those guidelines there. We also have an EAA appeal and anti-harassment committee. Again, this is a sort of standing committee that we have, but we've also looked at how we will work that in the kind of local circumstances of Budapest. We've got the existing EAA statement on archeology and gender that was issued in 2020 and approved in April 21 by our members. And of course that underpins everything that we do in relation to archeology and gender. We've also got the mission statement of the host institution that I think I'm correct in saying, and Sylvie can correct me if I've got this wrong was updated in the course of the last month. My apologies if I've got that bit wrong. And we've also got the statement, the recent statement that was produced by the Association of Hungarian Archeologists. So these are all places where we've provided supporting information about that we hope addresses the concerns of the LGBTQI and safety at the Budapest Conference and which obviously we can address any queries that relate to as we go through today's meeting. If I missed anything there, Berserker or Sylvie, please, please do correct me or add to that. Thank you very much, Sally. I think probably now we can proceed with some technicalities. Probably you have heard several times, lady with American accent saying this has been recorded, but we just to make sure that you know that this is recorded and we do intend to put it as widely as possible available as widely as possible on the website and on a YouTube channel. At the moment, only the panelists can see the people who are attending. You're not visible to each other, whoever is in the audience is not visible to each other and it is entirely anonymous. So you don't know who is listening next to you. However, if you want to speak, then obviously everybody will see you exactly as it happened with Sally. But if you want to raise a question, then you can either raise your hand or write it in the chat, not in the chat in the Q and A button that is available on Zoom. Also, obviously you know that you can communicate between yourselves as we were trying to do now in the light of these technical issues. And so it is nearly up to you how you want to raise your questions, whether you want to remain anonymous or you want everybody to see and hear what you want to say. All formats are available and we are there to help you and assist you if you ever want, you want. But basically you are anonymous, the people in the audience. Now it takes me a great pleasure to introduce Robert Bujjaki from the Hatter Society who agreed to give us a short presentation about what the society does and to reassure us and reassure that our concerns to kind of make our experience of Budapest as safe as possible. So Robert, please. Hey, thank you, Ms. Sarka. And thank you for the EAA to invite Hatter Society. We see that a lot of effort is going into the safety of the members of the EAA during your conference next year here in Budapest. So just a few words about Hatter Society. So as Ms. Sarka mentioned, my name is Robert Bujjaki and I work for a civil society organization called Hatter Society founded in 1995. This is currently the oldest and largest LGBTQIA plus civil society organization here in Budapest. Personally, I work for the legal program of Hatter Society. But as you can see here on your screen as well, we are much more than a legal program and the legal aid. We provide information and we have an information and the concealing deadline to support with any kind of information and help to the LGBTQIA plus community. We also have an in-person counseling for people who might need some kind of personal guidance or personal help. We have a legal aid. Basically, we provide the representation and concealing in every issues, every cases where the sexual orientation or gender identity might have any significance. We also have an HIV-AIDS prevention program. We have an archive and library as well. We conduct researches and provides trainings for professionals. We do advocacy and also we frequent the organized community and cultural events. So as you can see here, we have a lot of activities and programs. So today, I'm just going to share some information with you about the community here in Hungary and the current situation and also some kind of information that what kind of rights do you have while you are staying here in Budapest and also I'll try to give you some tips as well and useful information. So Hungary's population is approximately 10 million people and the LGBTQIA community's number is approximately 1.5% of the whole population. This number is from 2016, we assume that it's much higher but this is a so-called official number. So I put that here. Homosexuality is legal since the 1960s in Hungary and just to let you know just to put it in context what kind of rights the community has. We have no same-sex marriage here but we have the registered partnership for same-sex couples. It's only possible for same-sex couples only. It has got some marriage-like rights but unfortunately it's not the same as a marriage. The partners cannot take each other's names for example like married couples can also join the adoption is not possible like married couples can do also adoption for same-sex couples or single people, single person as generally seems impossible right now here. Legal gender recognition has been since 2020. It was possible for many, many years. Then the procedures have been suspended then unfortunately it's not possible since 2020. It does not mean that being transgender is banned. So people can still be transgender. They can come out of the transgender. They might even have a hormonal treatment. They might even have medical certificates. They might even have a gender reassignment surgeries but unfortunately the administrative procedure behind that is not possible. So obviously basically they cannot change their sex and name in their official document and in the registry. So this is what it's been. A simple existence of the transgender people is not banned. So there are transgender people here in Hungary. Also the reason I think while we are here this is the new law that so-called propaganda law that came into force this July. It aims to ban homosexual and transsexual propaganda. This has been widely reported during the summer in the international press that we might have heard about it. So actually it's the so-called propaganda law as we call it is trying to ban all products, advertising and media content featuring gay or transgender people for people under the age of 18. And this is the key of this law. Furthermore the law bans the appearance of LGBTQI people in public service advertisement as well as any school program that promotes homosexuality being transgender and transitioning. So as I mentioned before, the key is that the law only applies to the accessibility of the LGBTQI plus contents to people under the age of 18. So it's not a gender ban on the whole community or homosexuals or transgender people. Actually it is referred to by the government as the child protective measure. But there are a lot of issues with this law. It's in our opinion it's not a legislative measure, it's just a political tool. With no clear definitions, no clear sanctions behind the actions. So if we have a look at it, we still don't know what promoting homosexuality means and it was never said exactly what this means. So there are no clear definitions. And as I said before, it's really important that it's even if it's really extensive, it's not a gender ban of the LGBTQI community or contents. So adults, so people about 18 still can discuss topics like that still can have their programs, events, soon as you will see, I will talk about that later. But what they are trying to ban and the government trying to ban is the accessibility for people under the age of 18 of these kinds of content. Also the political discourse creates a more and more hostile environment in recent years. I'll just give you a few harsh examples from the recent years. The speaker of the parliament like in same sex couples raising children to pedophiles. Also a prime minister with problems at homosexuals should keep their hands off of children. The deputy prime minister a few months ago said that homosexuality is thin, but you have to know that this is only the political discourse and the political tools that we have here. The effect obviously has obviously the political discourse and the propaganda law and other so-called legislative measures have their effects in the daily life of the community because these can be considered as some kind of an authorization to commit hate crimes or use hate speech or just be the ground of the discrimination. Also we experienced a slight incline in hate crimes and hate speech reports of our organization. But in the last few months, the so-called LGBTQIA plus topic is so popular here in Hungary and this can be the reason that we saw this slight incline in issues reported to us. But these were the bad news. I obviously have some good news for you as well. So despite all the negative campaign, social acceptance of the LGBTQIA plus people at the history peak in Hungary right now. So this is based on a research by Amnesty International Hungary and our organization at their society conducted in July 2021. So after that propaganda law came into force, as you can see here on the numbers, the society is really supportive. 73% of people reject the government's false claim that gay and lesbian people abuse or harm children. Marriage equality is supported by 59%. 69% of the respondents say that same-sex couple can also be good friends and 74.5% believe that transgender people should be able to change their gender. So these numbers show that it's obviously it's only the political discourse and political tools that against LGBTQIA community here. Also just to show you that the recent legislative measures are not a general ban and not a ban at all. We recently had the 26th Puyapas Pride in July 2021. So once again, after the transphobic and homophobic law came into force, more than 30,000 people appeared. This is a huge number here in terms of a Puyapas Pride in Hungary and no major incidents reported during or after the Pride Month. So it's not just the March, but the whole month with all of these events and programs we had during the summer. During the March, there was a small number of demonstrators not threatening at all and no violent incidents reported. We are aware that some people were going with rainbow flags to the Pride March and someone through a beer can attempt what we haven't had any violent issues where someone got hurt reported. Also, once again, in September 2021, we had our first Pride March outside of Puyapas. So this is again after the transphobic and homophobic law came into force months later. So this is a confirmation that simple existence or the sheer existence of the LGBTQIA plus people is not banned. So we can still see people, same-sex couples holding hands on the streets and there are no major incidents reported. So in this context, we think that Puyapas is still a safe city. So as I show you, actually, it's only the political tools that trying to tell you that it's different. So this is what I wanted to say about the current situation that we might have. I just want to give you some overview about your rights during your stay, during your visit here in Budapest. So I'm going to talk to you about discrimination and hate crimes just in case hopefully you won't have to use this information, but just to make sure that you know about it. So the discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and many other characteristics like disability, state of health, age, race, sex, and so on is banned. So it's guaranteed in an act since 2003. This means that public bodies, authorities, armed forces, law enforcement bodies, or educational institutes like schools, universities, or museums as well, even the employers obliged to comply with the principle of equal treatment. And in your case, why is it important in your case? Because it is also applicable to you, even if you might not have any thing to do with public bodies or authorities while you are staying here in Hungary. Also the service providers like Autos and those who sell goods at their premises open to customers. Simply shops have to comply. And it does not apply only to Hungarian citizens but also for foreign citizens for you. In this case, we visit our country. So it means that a hotel can't refuse any services or a restaurant cannot refuse to serve you, cannot reject you just because you're part of the LGBTQIA plus community. What to do in this case? Because actually these cases won't require immediate intervention. You should just report it to our society, to our organization, we will be able to handle this case. Even if you don't want to be involved in any kind of legal procedure after that, we are happy to have only a report that what happened with you when this happened, just to have a record of these kind of issues. A possible outcome can be that a procedure conducted by the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and they can even impose a fine here. So it's not a criminal procedure. It's an administrative procedure. But there are some sanctions. For example, in your case, a hotel or restaurant could breach this law. Hate crimes, these are more serious and more violent issues. If you are not familiar with the term hate crimes, so basically these are offenses committed with a bias motive. So these include offenses against person and prepared as well. So it's really important not just person, but prepared as well, where the victim premises or target of the offense are selected because of their real or perceived connection, attachment, affiliation, support, or membership to the group based upon a characteristics common to its members, such as gender identity, sexual orientation, or other factor. Really simple example, same sex couples being attacked on the street because they are holding. So these are the criminal offenses when being part of a community, part of a group has any kind of significance. The criminal code prohibits hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And as these are more serious issues and usually violent issues, if you feel threatened, if you think you're in danger, you should just call the police. So if you need immediate help, you should call the police or even the ambulance if someone got hurt. The emergency phone number is 112, like every country here in the European Union. Also, if something like this happened to you, you should report it after society will be able to help you as well. Really important that we won't be able to provide immediate help to you because we do not have any kind of hotline. We only have illegal aid, which provides consultation and email, so you can report it to us after this happened. We will be able to help you with any kind of legal procedure after that. Also, if you happen to have any legal procedure once again, it's just to report that we are happy to have that report as well. The possible outcome can be a criminal procedure with severe sanctions also imprisonment. So the older days and the police take this really serious. Actually, these are crimes followed by a criminal procedure. The police also has their own investigation protocol for these kinds of crimes. So they take this really serious. And just some useful information that you can see the website of our hotline site here. On your screen, we have a website in English. We frequently have some news uploaded in English as well. So you will have some information about the community. If you visit our website, this is the email address of our legal aid. You can write your letters to us in English. Obviously, all of us speak English, so we will be able to assist you. And I just put here some useful information here. The general emergency service phone number, as I mentioned before, you should dial 111 if you are in trouble and need immediate help of the police ambulance of fire brigade. They speak Hungarian, English, and German. So you don't have to worry about not speaking Hungarian. They will be able to assist you if you speak English or German. So actually, these were the information that I was thinking that you need to know about the current situation and might be helpful while you are staying here. So all you know, as I said before, Budapest can be considered, say, a city, LGBTQIA-wise. So I think that you don't have to worry about that. Any kind of incidents during your stay, even if something happens, your organization, our organization, and all the other here to help you. And you are welcome. And I hope you will have a good conference next year. And thank you for your attention for this presentation. We also received a question in advance that I'm going to answer. So the question was that could Hungarian individuals get into trouble supporting gender equality, including LGBTQIA plus questions, themes in a conference? So actually, no, this is a simple answer that not just Hungarian individuals, but any individuals won't get into any trouble by supporting gender equality and the LGBTQIA topics. The only thing that has to be taken into consideration in this case, if this is an open event, then are you discussing any LGBTQIA-related topic during this conference? And if there are people under the age of 80? So there might be any sanctions. There might be any consequences when there are people under the age of 80. Otherwise, no. It's completely safe to discuss this topic. Even if it's the main topic of the event, then it's completely safe. You should just take care that if there are people under the age of 80 that it might have any sanctions. But as I said before, we still don't know what these sanctions can be of this ban. But just to answer the question once again, it's completely safe and no one will get into any trouble. Also, we usually say that people and organizers can be a little bit brave in this case, as there are no sanctions. And we don't know what might happen. And also, if there's anything happens and there are any sanctions, our organization is more than ever to help once again. So yes, this was the only question that we received in advance. So we'll just give it back to you to be Sarka and to see if we have any other questions. Thank you. Thank you so, so much for this extremely informative presentation. It is really very reassuring that there is a difference between a political discourse and social reality. And it is good to hear it from somebody who is actually on the ground. And it's good to hear that discrimination is illegal, basically. So these are all reassuring information. And of course, your presentation was very useful in terms of practical advice and practical issues. Should we ever need to use any of that? So that has been really very helpful. So I really hope that indeed that will satisfy concerned members of the EAA for their safety and well-being. Now, we haven't received any questions thus far in the QAO in the chat. Let's give it a little bit more time because it takes time for people to type. So I don't see anybody raising their hand wanting to ask a question. So I suggest we wait for a little bit till a possible question appears. If not, are we having Esther with us eventually if she wants to say, oh, somebody is having a question? Yes. Right. It's me. Yes. Sorry, I was dropped out because my Firefox just crashed. But as a simple listener, I was able to join. So instead of posing a new question, I would like to extend the answer Robert gave to the last question, saying that actually the statement by the Hungarian Association of Archaeologists was targeting exactly this issue. They just didn't want to make it explicit, saying that if you attend a gender LGBTQIA plus theme in the EAA annual meeting, you will be not punished afterwards or having any consequences of that. Up to saying that everything else is involved saying that they are rejoicing, they are encouraging their members to participate in this. So this is just confirming what Robert said a minute ago. There is no problem for anyone, Hungarian, or people from abroad attending gender-sensitive themes or sessions in the next annual meeting in Budapest. Thank you very much. Thank you, Esther. Oh, well, I was very much hoping that there will be no, I mean, you know, since I intend to attend every single one of them. And so, yes, that's very reassuring again to hear. Again, no hand and no question. Esther, do you want to make a closing commentary since you're cut off in the beginning? Or, I mean, again, I'm very happy with how the information provided and I'm really helpful for Robert for doing so. And yes, please, Esther. Well, what else could I say in the end, except it's saying a huge thank you on Robert Buzzaki on behalf of the Heartier Society, also to be circa, to moderate us, and also anyone who raised concerns to begin with, who might find a satisfaction by our large scale of responses, being this one, perhaps the most important one among all the feedbacks or the reactions we tried to give. I think if there had been any more concerns that would involve some more questions. So the mere fact that today there are no questions might be a positive sign of people getting relaxed, getting the necessary information on behalf of the executive board and on behalf of the Heartier Society. Nevertheless, please, anyone listening this, since this will be recorded and put on YouTube later on, if you happen to have any doubts later on, don't hesitate to contact us again. We will do our best and maybe I can say that also on behalf of Robert and the Heartier Society, that we'll be very keen and happy to help further anything, doing anything that we can so that you feel safe in the Budapest annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists. Thank you very much to attend here. Thank you very much for listening, for putting questions. And a huge thank you to Robert and Biserda, of course. I'd like to join Esther, so thank you very much. And again, reiterate, if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to get in touch, either with the Heartier Society, with us, with age, or with the executive board. Please make yourself heard if you have a question. Thank you very much, once again. And I still don't see any questions, so probably at this point we can say thank you to everybody for participating and goodbye.